Right Now, Save an Extra 8% Off Your Ebay Purchases on Almost Anything!

Update December 8th -- Well after fluctuating up and down a bit, the percentage today shows at 8% -- I have a feeling that's about where the normal level will be, and it may change occasionally for special occasions. But I also want to update that I have received the first of my Cashback ransactions put back into my PayPal account, so this system is on the level.

Update November 28th -- The percentage is up at 30% today, possibly as a Black Friday special.

Update October 27th -- The Cashback percentage is now sitting at 25%. Whether it will go back up to 30% is anyone's guess, but 25% is still a nice percentage to get back on an ebay Buy-It-Now/PayPal combo purchase.

Update October 11th -- I checked again today and the Cashback percentage is back up to 30%. So they seem to adjust this with no rhyme or reason. If you're looking for something on ebay and can Buy-It-Now and pay with Paypal, it's a great extra savings.

Update October 7th -- Microsoft's Cashback percentage for ebay purchases has dropped down to 20% right now. There's no way of knowing if it will change again soon, drop even further or what. Hopefully some of you took advantage of the 30%, but if you find a great deal on ebay using a Buy-It-Now + Paypal purchase, an extra 20% still makes it a better buy. The same instructions for getting the Cashback link still apply.

Microsoft has a buying service that gets you cash back on purchases at many stores, similar to ebates, about which I've written. I'll discuss the Microsoft Cashback system in more depth in a blog soon, but right now I want to alert you about a way that's going on now to save even more when you shop on ebay.

Microsoft has a promotion now within Cashback that gets you 30% off your ebay purchases on items that you use Buy-It-Now and which you pay for by Paypal. I'm not sure how long this high percentage will be in effect, but getting back almost one-third of your amount sounds like a nice way to maximize the good deals you can find on ebay. If you want to give it a try, here's the deal:
It's valid for anything on ebay except cars and real estate; not valid on express.ebay.com or half.ebay.com. Again, only Buy-It-Now purchases qualify, not auction-style purchases. You have to use the ebay Paypal links to make your payment, not use any third party checkout system.

You have to make your purchase within 60 minutes of starting that on-line purchasing session, and the Cashback deal applies only to the first item you buy that session. You can get back up to $200.00 per online session. You're allowed a maximum of six Cashback purchases via this ebay promotion, so if you want to buy a second item, you should start a new purchasing session after you buy the first item.

As you're checking out and getting ready to make your purchase, you see a green Cashback logo, and it even tells you how much you'll receive back. After you make your Buy-It-Now purchase and pay for it with Paypal, they send you a message with a button to click to claim your cashback amount.

The money shows up in your Microsoft Cashback account within a day or less, but the amount can't be withdrawn until 60 days after your purchase (to protect the system in case of returns). Setting up a Microsoft Cashback account is free, and just requires some Microsoft e-mail address -- if you don't have one, you can get one free using msn.com or hotmail.com.

The funny thing is, you can't find this promotion at the Cashback homepage which lists all their participating stores. Here's how you get it:

Go to http://www.live.com/. You'll see a search box. Type in Wii and hit the green search button. The page that opens will have some links inside a light blue box at the top, and one of the first ones should say "Wii - www.ebay.com - $ Live Search Cashback" and underneath it will say "Buy Wii. You may get 30% off with Paypal if eligible." Click on the Live Search Cashback link and it will open an ebay session and a search for Wii systems. At the top of the page you'll see a green rectangle that shows "$ Microsoft Cashback 30%."

Don't worry -- you don't have to buy a Wii, it's just one search that gets you into ebay with the eligibility to qualify for the 30% cashback bonus. Then you have an hour to search for items you might want to check, whether other electronics, clothes, dvds or whatever. As long as it's available to buy via Buy-It-Now and the seller accepts Paypal, it gets the bonus (except for the car/real estate restrictions -- or if the seller uses a third-party checkout system).

The conditions in full can be read here.

One of the obvious advantages of ebay is that you can often find name-brand items for less than you'd pay at stores. And this becomes a way to make your savings count even more. Let's say you find an item that retails for $169.00 but ebay sellers offer for $100. You could use this system and get an extra $30 back, making your final net just $70. The 30% could really make a decent bargain even a lot nicer.

Hey, if you found a big ticket item costing $666.66 or more, they'll give you back $200.00!

Again, since this is separate from the regular Cashback page and is a separate promotion it may not last long. So you may want to check it out quick, but remember it's limited to six Cashback transactions so use them on your bigger priced items for the most bang for your buck.